New Delhi: TVS Srichakra is ramping up production capacity as the TVS Group company aims the top slot among India’s two-wheeler tyre manufacturers.

The plan is to expand capacity to 2.4 million tyres a month by December from 2.0 million now. It is adding capacity at plants at Madurai in Tamil Nadu and Pant Nagar in Uttrakhand.

The company that already ships two-wheeler tyres to Africa and other markets is bullish on export prospects as well. “We see good possibility of serving both domestic and exports market,” said director P Vijayaraghavan.

The company is gearing up for another round of expansion in fiscal 2016-17, he said. But details of that will be available only in early March, when TVS Srichakra is expected to unveil its three-year business plan.

In order to tap the growing market of superbikes, the company will launch two-wheeler radial tyres in the next two months, the director said.The Tamil Nadu-based tyre maker, which sells products under the TVS TYRES brand, manufactures two-wheeler, three-wheeler and off-road tyres and doesn’t have plans to enter other segments.

The company recorded Rs 1,700 crore of revenue in fiscal 2014. It is projecting a 15% expansion this fiscal year and at least similar growth next year, as it expects two-wheeler sales to rise. “We expect the (two-wheeler) segment to grow in double digits next year,” Vijayaraghavan said.

According to Vijayaraghavan, the government must increase the import duty on tyres as it will help boost local tyre manufacturing and give an impetus to the government’s Make in India campaign. “Chinese tyres imports … are hurting both the industry and consumer. The inverted duty structure on rubber and tyre should be corrected,” he added.

Currently, natural rubber attracts about 20% duty, making the key raw material costlier for the tyre industry. The import duty on finished tyre is about half that.

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